The Fourth King
by SSHiei
Summary: The Fourth Grail War originally had but three Kings. Matou Kariya summons a fourth, but it isn't one anyone could have ever expected.
1. Chapter 1

The Fourth King

Disclaimer: I do not own.

* * *

Matou Kariya did not expect, in all honesty, to summon anything that would be truly able to fundamentally _solve_ his problems. He believed that he could save Sakura, win the Grail, but not survive, not truly deal with Zouken. He was resigned, after the agony of the Crest Worms, to being a martyr.

Matou Zouken did not for a moment truly believe Kariya would win him the grail, but indulged him anyway. It amused the ancient magus to watch the broken fool suffer to what would clearly be a terrible and pointless end. His plans for the girl were not for a moment interrupted by the possibility that maybe, just maybe, Kariya would manage to do something remarkable.

The summoning started exactly as expected. The incantations were flawless, the circle was properly aligned, the catalyst was perfectly in place.

The first sign something had gone wrong was when the Command Spells appeared on Kariya's hand. Normally, this would be expected. On the other hand, no servant appeared before them in the circle. The two stood in the room, waiting for the servant to appear.

"Worthless," Zouken spat. "Even with all the resources I spent on you, you botch everything. I guess that girl wasn't so important to you after all, if you would waste my time like this."

Kariya didn't move at all, eyes unfocused.

"Do you not hear me, incompetent? Are you actually so pathetic that you _died_ from this?"

The younger man did not so much as twitch in recognition.

"Pheh. Such a waste of my time. I knew you were weak, but I had no idea you were this much of an embarrassment. To think that I would regret even the worms used. I had hoped to at least be entertained by this venture, but-" Zouken's voice suddenly gave out as he felt it.

The room was shaking. No, not just the room, Zouken realized. The entire mansion _trembled_, the presence smothering the entire complex. An energy, simultaneously primordial and new, surged through him, and with a start the old man realized he was afraid for the first time in decades.

Kariya's mouth was hanging open. Zouken felt something trickle down the inside of his pant leg.

**_I ASK OF YOU, ARE YOU MY_** _**MASTER?**_

The question was not spoken, or indeed even truly made of words. Kariya felt the sheer _concept_ of the query rumble through him, the Crest Worms having been frozen in place by the sheer weight of the link itself. It was not like what was supposed to happen. What had gone wrong? Had he awakened some True Magic with the call, brought something on the scale of a True Ancestor to this place?

_**I ASK OF YOU, ARE YOU MY MASTER?**_

The rumbling force's return shook Kariya again, and he could feel the worms inside of him dying from the connection to something so ancient, so terrifyingly powerful. But for Sakura, he had to... he had to...

"Yes."

With that single, terrified utterance, the shaking stopped. Kariya could feel the link cementing itself, could feel _something_ immense and monstrous and _extremely not human_ on the other end of the link. It was waiting. He felt no name for the thing, but knew instinctively he had summoned a king. A king of what he did not know, but nothing of that scale could be anything but a king. He turned around, and saw for the first time in his life that his uncle was terrified of what had just taken place. He felt something slip out of his nose. Blood? No, it was...

Wait. How were the crest worms falling out of his body without blood? What the hell? Kariya shook his head, more worms sliding out, oddly painlessly. Considering it looked like Zouken had passed out, he'd wait for...

Zouken had passed out. Zouken was just as terrified of whatever the hell he had just summoned as he was, except Zouken didn't control it. Kariya felt a spark of hope. _He could get Sakura out_.

* * *

It had been only twenty-four hours since Kariya had summoned what he could only assume was Berserker, but things were looking remarkably hopeful. Somehow, it seemed the contract itself was healing him, because after about the first hour, he was pretty sure there weren't any worms left in his body. His hair was starting to resume its natural color, and he could see properly out of his left eye again.

He had gotten Sakura out without any fuss, and still hadn't heard anything from Zouken. Even better, Sakura wasn't suffering any ill effects, so Zouken hadn't activated any contingency plans, and Sakura had mentioned that the worms were awfully still and quiet when Kariya was close.

He chuckled. After so much torture for the both of them, he was hesitant to believe it had turned around so quickly, but he could _feel _how much healthier he was. In fact, he was pretty sure he hadn't felt this healthy _before_ the Crest Worms were implanted in him, and yet, the weirdest part of it all was that he could still produce prana. The Servant must have had something to do with it.

Kariya still had no idea what the deal was with his Servant. He was pretty sure it was Berserker, but it definitely wasn't who he was trying to summon. Not that he was complaining, of course. He was pretty sure that if he ended up asking whoever or whatever it was to materialize, any opponent would shit themselves and give up immediately.

In fact, he thought, he should probably go back to the mansion to deal with his uncle. He was moderately surprised to realize just how much confidence he felt at the thought. Maybe a bleed-over from the weird Servant, again?

"Hey, Sakura. I'm going to drop you off with Rin for a bit, okay? I have to go take care of some business, see if I can't make the worms go away for you for good. No, don't worry, really. I've got this."

* * *

Zouken was indeed angry, seemingly having forgotten all about the mind-numbing, literally pants-shitting terror that the summoning had provoked in him. But Kariya didn't care. He felt the link burn as the old man raged.

"Hey, uncle. We never did get to see who Berserker was, did we?"

Zouken paused, then opened his mouth to say something. Kariya had already raised his hand.

"Berserker, come to me!"

In retrospect, doing that while inside the mansion was a terrible idea. With that gesture and utterance, the presence from before started to coalesce, not into a human form, but something larger. Much larger. In fact, Kariya realized faintly, the floor and ceiling were splintering to bits and his servant was showing no signs of even approaching being fully formed. When the form had expanded to hit ground level and was continuing to grow upwards, Kariya was beginning to be concerned that it wouldn't stop growing. The two Matou magi had backed up, clearing more than enough room to escape the collapsing sections of the mansion itself.

It took nearly thirty seconds in total for the thing to materialize completely. Zouken and Kariya both stared, mouths agape, at the titanic creature. That wasn't a heroic spirit.

When it looked down at him with eyes larger than cars, Zouken realized he had just soiled himself. When Kariya started laughing, Zouken realized his knees had given out, and he was now sitting in his own filth. And yet he couldn't bring himself to care about that, given what was in front of him.

"A king indeed!" Kariya managed between barks of laughter. "Truly, _uncle_, you've outdone yourself. The Grail has seen fit to grant me with a way to stop you forever. I don't need to get the Grail for you any more. I wish I could make you suffer for the things you did to Sakura, but this guy is going to attract way too much attention if I let him out for too long." He thrust his hand forward, and the patriarch of the Matou _felt _his fate being sealed.

"Berserker! _DESTROY HIM!_"

And with that, the King of the Monsters opened its terrible maw, and in a flash of blue, Zouken was no more. He had thought, for a moment, that his precautions would save him.

As it turns out, very little stops atomic fire breath.

* * *

Might do another chapter at some point. The other one rolling about in my head was the Caster battle, but if there's significant response, I might do more than just that.

Also, theme (remove spaces):

w w w . youtube watch?v = o6qAIaqK3_Q


	2. Chapter 2

The Fourth King

Chapter Two

Disclaimer: Do not own.

A/N: Holy shit guys. 25 reviews in less than 24 hours? You flatter me. I'm certainly not going to let that kind of devotion go unanswered. I do hope you continue to enjoy this as much as you have previously!

A/N 2: This chapter's a bit short, but it felt weird trying to put it alongside the other information, so I split it up into 2. The other chapter will likely show up in an hour or two.

* * *

"WOOOOAAHH! Did you _feel that_, Bluebeard-san?!"

"God has come to us, Ryuunosuke! He has acknowledged our art and contributed a work of great destruction of His own. We cannot let Him down, not when He has so clearly welcomed us for all we are!"

"YEAH! We need to go _crazy_ if we want to be able to keep up with that kind of art!"

* * *

"Kiritsugu, you're not going to go out and look for whatever made that, are you?"

"...no."

Arturia didn't say it, but she had seen the way his knees had almost buckled. If he hadn't been next to the wall, she suspected he would have collapsed every bit as hard as the rest of them.

It was to the Magus Killer's credit that he had already started staggering over to Irisviel even while the presence was still there.

* * *

Diarmuid glanced hesitantly out the window of the apartment. Kayneth had actually taken Sola-Ui's hand into his own for support. Whether it was for her support or his, however, was uncertain.

The fact that Lancer hadn't been reprimanded for weakness when he stumbled from the aura said enough.

* * *

Waver had nearly gotten a concussion from the fall. Iskander could hardly blame the boy for faltering at that presence. Even for a Heroic Spirit, to not be bothered by something so tremendous as that spoke of only madness.

* * *

Kirei didn't move for a while even after it had passed, an instinctual feeling of prey, long forgotten. If he didn't move, it wouldn't notice him. If he didn't move, it wouldn't notice him.

If there was any god at all, please, let that living atrocity not take notice of him.

* * *

Gilgamesh almost dropped his wine glass, losing his composure for a fraction of a second. A beat later, and he grinned. And here he had been worried this Grail War thing would be utterly uninteresting.

He wondered where the corpse of whatever god beast this was would look best in his treasury.

* * *

Sakura looked in the direction she knew the mansion had been. A name, unbidden, sprung from her lips.

"_Gojira_..."


	3. Chapter 3

The Fourth King

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I have not, in fact, started to own anything new in the past hour.

A/N: Like I said last chapter, I mainly split it up because I wanted that reaction section (which occurred at the exact same time as the end of chapter 1) to be separate from the other developments. Without further ado, back to the plot.

* * *

Kariya had a hard time believing that his uncle was dead and he wasn't. The amount of prana he _should_ have had to use to manifest Berserker would have killed him instantly. And yet, while he had definitely passed out, he was pretty sure the ache that went throughout his whole body was confirmation he was alive.

He wasn't entirely sure how he had gotten to the Tohsaka mansion, but when he woke up, Sakura and Aoi were staring down at him worriedly. There was a trail of slime running out of the young girl's nose (and he was pretty sure it wasn't snot), which he suspected may have been from the worms. Did Berserker's power somehow so thoroughly destroy Zouken that it followed the lineage of the Crest Worms or something?

The idea was thoroughly nonsensical (he was pretty sure the worms didn't work like that, but the old man was creepy enough he might have been made of worms or something equally insane), but given the pounding headache he had at the moment, it was unlikely any other ideas would present themselves.

* * *

Kotomine Risei was not having a good day. The war hadn't even started yet and he was having to call in favors to try containing yesterday's _incident_.

Apparently, several dozen people had seen some giant dragon/dinosaur/lizard _thing_ appear from _inside_ of the Matou Mansion, then proceed to shoot blindingly bright blue fire from its maw directly down into it. The only saving grace there was that the whole incident took less than a minute, so it was a simple matter to pass it off as a hallucination from some sort of terrorist attack on the Matou.

But seriously, what had happened there? The level of magical protection on the mansion would have made most anything fail, barring an assault by a pack of Dead Apostles, a determined True Ancestor, or a Servant using an Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm. While those were hardly out of the question for the Grail War, the real issue was that it happened so quickly, with no buildup of any sort.

No, that wasn't entirely the case. He had felt the aura from even within the church itself, and that presented yet another problem: there was no way that any other magus in the entirety of _Japan_ hadn't felt that. It had happened quickly, yes, and disappeared just as quickly, but it happened. Something with so much power that it could be felt so long as even the tiniest spark of magic existed within a person... had someone summoned a _god_?

There was no doubt the other masters would be forced to change their plans, whatever they might have been, with this new development. He briefly considered offering Command Spells to deal with the issue, but somehow the idea of trying to threaten that thing was a terrible idea.

* * *

"I'm still not sure why you're calling Berserker 'Gojira-san', Sakura," Kariya said wearily, rubbing his eyes. He figured a staggering onset of exhaustion, passing out almost immediately, and persistent full-body aches were more than most Masters would have to deal with after just summoning their Servant, but Berserker wasn't any ordinary servant.

"Gojira-san is Gojira-san!" the girl _chirped_. Kariya blinked again. It was so weird seeing her this cheerful after everything that had been done to her, but it made all the pain so worth it for her to be able to smile again. He smiled back, wincing at yet another muscle spasm.

"Well, he hasn't exactly told me his name, so I guess that works as well as anything else," Kariya said, shrugging. Not that he thought Berserker really _could_. He didn't doubt Berserker's power or loyalty, but the only message he had received felt strange, wordless but understood. He guessed that was the Grail's doing, to facilitate communication between a monster without language and a flimsy mortal without the skill to comprehend something so majestic without assistance.

"So your uncle is...?" Aoi prompted, and Kariya mentally berated himself for forgetting she was in the room, even if he was utterly exhausted.

"Gone. Berserker made _very _sure of that. I think that I might be able to make an argument that I'm technically the clan head now. Given that it feels like my circuits are different than before... I think, ah, Gojira, had something to do with it. The contract felt really strange as it was. I think I'm getting some parts of him in me. The worms just _died_ when the contract was made, and I've been getting better from something that I shouldn't have physically been able to recover from."

Sakura sneezed into a tissue, looked inside, and grimaced. It was likely another batch of worms. Aoi looked thoughtful.

"It seems like the contract is already changing things. Sakura had started losing those things the moment that feeling went away again. I think you might not be too far off about the clan head thing."

Kariya's eyes widened for a moment, and he started laughing, ignoring the spikes of pain from his achy body. "I don't even need to fight in the Grail War, then," he wheezed. "It's already given me what I would have wished for." He looked down at Sakura, drawing an arm around her and pulling her in for an awkward half-hug, which she returned happily. He looked back up at Aoi. "But don't worry. I keep my promises. Your husband is going to get out of this alive, I assure you."

Aoi smiled back, and joined the embrace. The Grail must have been an even more benevolent artifact than anyone had ever imagined. It had granted her best friend the power to save himself, rescue her daughter, and protect her husband, and that was before any participation in the War.

Truly, no amount of praise could ever match its purity, and she could never thank her friend enough for all he had risked for her sake.

* * *

"You're quite certain that was Berserker?" Kirei said (his tone made it clear it wasn't so much a question as a comment), staring at his father. He had come to the church earlier than he was supposed to. The plan had been to "lose" Assassin to Archer, but the power surge had made those plans moot. No one would be watching for something so inconsequential after feeling _that_.

"Yes. I know not what spirit it must be, only that it is truly mighty, and whatever legend it is must indeed be so great that we no longer even truly consider it a legend. I can think of nothing else that would grant that kind of renown that it might be so grand."

Kirei stared at Risei for a moment longer. "And the Grail chose that thing. To send into a _secret _war."

"Why, I can think of no other way for it to have appeared."

For all his impassiveness, Kirei felt an eyebrow twitch, but his tone remained even. "I find myself wondering if perhaps the Grail has a different idea of 'secrecy' than we do, Father."

"It is, of course, possible. But we cannot truly fathom the mind of the Grail."

The younger man twitched again. _No, really?_


	4. Chapter 4

The Fourth King

Chapter Four

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Gilgamesh. I am not Gilgamesh. Therefore, I do not own anything.

A/N: Wow, guys. I'd never even considered I could get this kind of response. And to think, this was originally planned to be a throwaway one-shot... you guys definitely made sure that isn't the case. I don't see this turning into a particularly long fic anyway. At most, I see it maybe hitting 20k by the end, with the minimum plan somewhere around 10k. That being said, I had to grab a bit more of a plan for this chapter than before.

* * *

Two days. Kariya sighed, massaging an arm as he walked down the hall. He'd been stuck in bed for _two days_. Admittedly, Aoi refused to allow him to get up other than to go to the bathroom, but still. He'd been cut off from the Grail War for that long. It seemed like something of a miracle that no one had tracked him down in that time.

It was his turn to track someone down, though. With Sakura safe, he no longer felt the need to outright _kill_ Tokiomi, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to give the man a piece of his mind. Verbally. With the Crest Worms gone, he had no means of combat other than summoning Berserker, and he was in no hurry to do that again. That would be counter-productive to his promise to Aoi of keeping Tokiomi alive. He was still Rin's father, even if he didn't act like one to Sakura.

The thought brought him to another odd thing. For all that he had healed (and had refused doctors so far, as they would give away his position and make Aoi, Rin, and Sakura targets), he couldn't understand what was happening to his magic. With the worms gone (and he knew they were gone; it was impossible to miss the feeling of being _whole_ after experiencing what he had), he shouldn't have had functional magic circuits. But he did. He had yet to find any spells that would cooperate with his recovered system, but he definitely had prana.

A minor spark of pain on his chest distracted him from his thoughts and reminded him of the real reason he was out of bed. He had felt strange, almost electrical pains all over his torso ever since he had woken up, though it had taken time to realize it past the aches. Reaching one of the bathrooms (and quietly thankful that Aoi hadn't come with him again to make sure he didn't collapse, dear GOD that had been awkward), he walked in front of one of the mirrors and immediately whipped off his shirt. He wasn't entirely sure what he was expecting to see, maybe a rash, or maybe cuts from the debris or something, but...

A strange pattern of jagged, dark jade lines seemed tattooed onto his skin, wrapping around his entire torso. Starting just below the collarbone and stopping just above the pelvis, the design called to mind some sort of storm. Directly over his heart, the design differed, the lines becoming wavy and blurred, as though a green fire blazed there. As he stared, trying and failing to grasp what this could possibly mean, the lines all simultaneously seemed to itch for a few seconds, and (was it a trick of the light?) lighting up slightly, though not in a fashion that gave off light as other magic always seemed to.

"Kariya-kun, are you alright? You were taking a long-" Aoi poked her head around the corner of the room, her voice tender, but abruptly went silent upon seeing him standing there. Kariya bit back a curse. How long had he been standing there that it was suspicious for a trip to the bathroom? He glanced back at her, eyes attempting to convey his honest confusion at the whole situation. Aoi met his eyes, seeming to accept that. For a moment, they stood there in silence, thinking.

"Do you have any ideas?" Kariya asked her quietly, running a finger along one of the lines. Aoi looked pensive.

"I... I'm not sure, but... it looks like it might be..." She trailed off, uncertain.

"Might be?" Kariya prompted softly.

"A new Crest."

Kariya blinked, staring at her.

"What." To have created a Thaumaturgical Crest _on accident_... and one so _large_ already... that didn't make any sense at _all_. Thaumaturgical Crests were the accumulation of generations of magi putting their own magic circuits into the crest itself, after very carefully designing them for the clan. "Are you saying...?"

"That you seem to have founded a new clan? You did just kill the clan head of the Matou, didn't you? I'd say that counts for something."

"But... I don't even..._ no_, that's too crazy. I mean, they don't just show up, that's ridiculous."

"Well, yes. So is summoning something my daughter seems intent on calling a gorilla-whale."

"I'm not sure I understand that one, really. He's more of a dinosaur. A really, really big dinosaur. Like, _really _big."

"Uh-"

"I mean, really, _holy crap_, Aoi, the thing's got to be a hundred meters tall."

"Aren't we getting off-"

"REALLY BIG."

"I get it, Kariya-kun, Berserker's big-"

"_REALLY REALLY-_"

"I GET THE PICTURE, KARIYA!"

* * *

In Kariya's defense, it is difficult to convey the _feeling_ of being next to something 80 meters tall. But Gaia help him he tried.

It took another twenty minutes of Aoi assuring him _no really, she did understand Berserker was a big guy_ before they got back to the original conversation.

* * *

"So you think, what, summoning Berserker gave me a Crest? A brand new one?" Kariya asked, skeptically.

"Well, how would you explain it, then? The fact that you survived summoning something so powerful? The fact the Crest Worms are all dead? The way you recovered? The way _Sakura_ is recovering? My best guess is that it has a theme of 'survival' or something similar, and that maybe you unconsciously used it to help Sakura."

Kariya paused. "Wait. I had thought it was just the aura from Berserker affecting her?"

Aoi shook her head. "If I'm right about this... then somehow, Berserker had the power to not only destroy Zouken, but in severing the Matou line, it was _replaced_. Effectively...

"Effectively, you're her father now."

* * *

Post-note: The Gorilla-whale thing is, according to the Godzilla wiki, the origin of the name _Gojira_: a portmanteau of the words "_gorira_" (gorilla) and "_kujira_" (whale).

Post-note 2: I'm running off the assumption that neither Tokiomi nor Aoi actually knew about the Crest Worms because the alternative, the idea that a parent would willingly send their daughter not only to a creepy, known to be cruel man, but to a life of being raped and devoured from the inside out by horrible worm creatures... I can't work with that kind of evil and still make their characters sympathetic. That being said, Aoi found out when Sakura, in this fic, started leaking the things. That's the sort of thing that demands an explanation.

Post-note 3: I was planning on including another scene, but I figured I'd send it out earlier rather than wait for inspiration to hit me for that portion. I personally can't decide whether I prefer reading sparse but large chapter updates or frequent but short updates. It definitely feels better, productivity-wise, to do the latter, at least for now.


	5. Chapter 5

The Fourth King

Chapter 5

Disclaimer: How many things could a woodchuck own if a woodchuck could understand the concept of ownership?... more than me.

A/N: I've taken note of the helpful bits of info reviewers have given me regarding my assumptions about Tokiomi's and Aoi's knowledge, nodded thoughtfully, and summarily disregarded them for the purposes of the fic. If I can have the Grail summon the King of the Monsters, I can make Tokiomi less of a complete bastard. Still a bastard, but a different _kind_ of bastard. For another fun view of an interaction between Kariya and Tokiomi on the subject, I recommend Moczo's wonderful _The Importance of Proper Communication_.

* * *

"Buh."

Kariya's brain wasn't cooperating right now. Some might have said it wasn't active, but that would have been fundamentally incorrect. In reality, it was divided between a number of different tasks right now. The first task was, as it had been ever since Aoi entered the room, maintaining composure with Aoi staring at his shirtless torso the way she was. The second task was considering the fact that her statement implied that he had a child with Aoi now. There were other, lesser portions, like the one admiring the way Aoi's hair fell around her neck, or the one reminding him that he was aching all over, or even the one that was suggesting that maybe he should go take a shit, but those processes were rapidly being swallowed up by the primary two tasks.

"Buh."

This left extraordinarily little processing power for the language centers in his brain.

"Kariya-kun?"

"Buh."

This might well have continued for a significant period of time if it weren't for an extremely unfortunate bit of timing.

"There you are, Aoi. Why is Sakura here and- _what the hell?!_"

* * *

Tohsaka Tokiomi considered himself a rational, calm individual. He loved his family very much, even if he didn't always do the best things for their emotional states. He had arrived to check on his wife and daughter, admittedly two days after the intimidating surge of energy. He expected to face some degree of criticism for taking so long to check on them after that kind of incident, which he had prepared his reasoning for. He could not, of course, have so quickly gone after an event like that. Surely, he would reason, something like that might have been hunting mages, and he would be a terrible person to lead the horror directly to his wife and daughter after all the trouble the family was going to in keeping them separate and safe.

He was not expecting to find his _other_ daughter in the house, leaking worms of all things from her nose while talking animatedly with Rin. He knew the Matou magic involved the creatures in some way, she ways probably demonstrating a trick to her sister. Perhaps, he reasoned, she had been evacuated from the Matou mansion for the time being while Zouken found more appropriate new lodging. As Sakura was blessedly alive, he figured that meant Zouken had evacuated the two of them. What a kind old man, to have dropped her off to visit with her sister after such a traumatizing incident. He nodded to himself, cementing the explanation in his mind. He'd figure out the specifics later, once he talked with Aoi.

Gilgamesh had been surprisingly quiet on the affair, a distant smirk appearing on his face whenever the subject of the incident was raised. Tokiomi figured that meant the incident was similar to something in the King of Heroes' lifetime, and that it would be summarily dealt with like anything else that the First Heroic Spirit deemed to be of interest. Not that Tokiomi wanted to be even remotely present for the battle; that surge of energy was far larger than he was comfortable being within miles of, and Archer would likely leave a crater the size of a small town as the aftermath of removing the source.

As he walked onto the second floor, he spied an open bathroom door. Making a mental note to inform Aoi's parents that the hinges on that door were damaged, he approached, assuming that the only reason it would still be open is if Aoi had entered but not yet tried to leave, thus not noticing it. Mentally applauding himself for his impeccable logic, he reached the door and glanced in, already speaking, deciding he was already well aware of the scene he would find: Aoi would have entered because Sakura might have gotten some of those worms on her, and Aoi would be checking to see if there was any of the goop on her face or in her hair.

"There you are, Aoi. Why is Sakura here and-_what the hell?!_"

Very rationally, very calmly, Tohsaka Tokiomi proceeded to flip the fuck out and launch a bolt of lightning at the shirtless, tattooed Master he saw perhaps a foot from his wife. _Rationally and calmly_.

* * *

Kariya's brain decided that it might be a good idea to reactivate in response to the magical attack aimed at his head. Swiftly shunting Aoi to the right, he dove forward under the blast, wincing as the shards of the now exploded mirror behind him grazed his back. Scrambling to get his feet back under him, glanced up in time to see a bolt of fire collide with his face. Screaming out in surprise and pain, he swiped a hand across his face, dimly noticing the flames fading. Kariya decided that the diplomatic conversation of an alliance would need to wait until later. On the bright side, he now had a perfectly legitimate excuse for beating the shit out of the bastard who abandoned his own daughter: he needed to _subdue_ the man to have that little conversation he'd need to keep the promise to Aoi. Subdue was such a versatile, lovely little word.

He flung himself at Tokiomi, crossing his arms in front of his face to block the brunt of another burst of flame. Tokiomi cursed, backing out of the door as the fragments of a ruined gem fell from his hand. Kariya, staggering to regain his balance from the missed attack, glanced up at the other man.

"What are you doing?! Stop!" Aoi cried out at the two of them. Neither man dared look away from the other.

"Don't look at me. I'm not the one who started the conversation with a lightning bolt to the face."

Tokiomi scoffed. "And I suppose you expect me to not be suspicious when I find another Master shirtless in the bathroom with my wife?"

"Suspicious does not need to equal lightning bolt! And you were already busy not being suspicious, you trusted Sakura to my uncle!"

"Because he is the head of a respected magical family! You're an upstart and I feel that it bears repeating that you were _shirtless_ in the _bathroom_ being stared at _by my wife_!"

"Honestly, I wasn't entirely comfortable with the situation either. Really awkward." Damn, things were starting to calm down. At this rate, Kariya might not even be able to justify _one_ face punch. And that might be the biggest tragedy Kariya had faced all week.

"Tokiomi-kun, Kariya-kun, can't we just explain the situation?"

"The situation is that there's a man I'm supposed to be either murdering or disabling shirtless in the safehouse we set up for you, Aoi."

"About that." Kariya cleared his throat. "I made a promise to Aoi, _as a friend_, _put that gem back down_, that I wouldn't kill you, and that I'd even make sure you got through this alive. Now, that's going to be extremely difficult if we call our Servants, because while I haven't had cause to bring him out against another Servant yet, I assure you he's very bad about causing collateral damage."

"You believe your servant could defeat mine? You believe your power could overwhelm mine?"

"That's the thing," Kariya drawled, gesturing to the designs on his torso. "Aoi seems to think I've inadvertently created a new clan, and that this is the Thaumaturgical Crest. I'd be more skeptical, but my Servant caught me off guard. And he caught my uncle off guard. Hence why Sakura's here."

Tokiomi opened his mouth to retort when the obvious struck him, and he stiffened. "Wait. Two days ago. That was-?"

"Yeah."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"And she's-?"

"Apparently part of my new clan now."

"Huh."

The two men stared at each other for a moment. Kariya rubbed the back of his head.

"Now, I'd love to continue this conversation, but I think we can both agree it's awkward with me not having my shirt. And I'm pretty sure you set it on fire back there, so I'm kind of at a loss."

Tokiomi schooled his face, careful not to let his nervousness show. "You understand my position, though?"

"We can discuss this once I get another shirt."

* * *

Post-note: I had honestly intended for the two of them to start trading blows. But as it came out, it would have been forced. While a daikaiju (giant monster) to the anything generally solves problems, it has a nasty habit of destroying everything in the area, and there are three others who Kariya actively wants to protect in the mansion. It would also make his promise to Aoi rather difficult to keep. Subtle, the Berserker class has never been, and this one even less so.


	6. Chapter 6

The Fourth King

Chapter 6

Disclaimer:

A/N: A shoutout to reviewer Nanya, who put this story on the Fate/Zero recommended fics list on TVTropes. I quite seriously lost strength in my legs for a while when I realized I was _on TVTropes oh my god._ Additionally, a working Character Sheet for Berserker is at the bottom of the chapter, which should make up for the rest of it being shorter than usual._  
_

* * *

Aoi sat next to her daughters, running her hand through Sakura's hair. It still struck her as miraculous that her childhood friend had come and been such a hero. She had no idea the Matou family magic was so incredibly cruel. She knew it was unpleasant (honestly, anything that related one's magic to bugs had to be), but the true horror of the matter likely would have escaped her had Kariya not managed to actually destroy the problem. A good thing, too; if she had known about the true nature of what was being done to her daughter, she would have made sure Zouken's demise was drawn out over _years_. Ancient magus or not, one does not simply incur a mother's wrath and not die horribly.

The man was in another room in quiet discussions with her husband, having been given a replacement shirt. They had both promised not to get into another fight, but wanted to keep Grail War matters separate. With the looks Sakura and Rin had been giving the men after the clamor upstairs, someone needed to do damage control. Tokiomi had managed to pass off the damage as an opportunity for Rin to practice some of the fundamentals of repair magic, which she was succeeding at beautifully.

In some ways, she was still losing Sakura to another family, but not in the most important ones. Kariya wasn't strong, magically, yet he had taken on the worms in order to save her, so his conviction couldn't be questioned, and now with the strength he had received from this new Crest, whatever it turned out to be, he had the power to back it up. Aoi knew, in the moments after she saw the Crest, that Kariya would adamantly _refuse_ to separate Sakura from her and Rin. He'd teach her what he could, as he figured out whatever the quirks were of this new clan, but as a person she was not going to be separated from her mother and sister.

A loud crash sounded from inside of the room her husband and Kariya were talking in. The girls started, but a gesture from Aoi quieted them. A moment passed, and the two men walked out. Kariya had a small, content grin on his face, and the way he held himself made him seem healthier, lighter on his feet. Tokiomi still held himself tall, regal, but...

"I _said_ no fighting. You promised," Aoi said accusingly at Kariya, eyes flickering over to her husband's very broken nose. Both men paused, before starting to speak at the same time.

"It wasn't _technically_ a fight-"

"I wanted to be able to more properly empathize with Sakura."

Kariya stopped. "Wait, what?"

Tokiomi nodded. "I had noticed Sakura was leaking something from her nose, earlier. I decided that, in light of the mistake I made in sending her to Zouken, I would also leak from my nose, as a show of solidarity. It's only logical."

Kariya and Aoi stared at him, the same incredulous look on their faces. In the background, Sakura looked abashed.

"Please tell me you're shi- joking with me," Kariya said, catching himself before swearing in the presence of the children. Especially with Aoi standing _right there_, that was a very bad idea. "I knew you came up with bad excuses, but _really_?"

Aoi shook her head in almost amused resignation. "No, Kariya, he's not joking, he really, truly believes that's an explanation that will pass muster. I'm not sure if I should be insulted that he hasn't figured out that sort of explanation doesn't work or impressed he made it into something almost sweet."

Tokiomi shook his head, smiling and waving a finger knowingly. "But it's the truth. At what point did I specify how the injury came to be?"

Aoi turned to Kariya. He shrugged.

"I suppose he could be interpreting 'asking for it' in a way that makes him aware of his actions."

"I'm actually waiting on your explanation of why you broke your _promise_."

"I didn't," Kariya said simply. "It isn't a fight if I punch him once, he gets back up, and we both walk out of the room feeling better about ourselves."

Aoi's mouth dropped open in disbelief. "No. You can't mean to tell me that cliche _actually happened_. That's too stupid."

Tokiomi pulled his hand away from his nose, having covertly used a minor bit of healing magic to straighten it without stopping the bleeding. "I don't know, I feel like I've made up for things just a little by giving him a chance to vent, and that does make me feel better..."

Aoi shook her head, throwing up her hands in exasperation, letting out an annoyed groan of "_Men!_" before walking out of the room to escape the stupid. Kariya sighed, rubbing a sore muscle as he headed back to bed, under no illusions that being able to get into a not-technically-a-fight meant he was well-rested enough for Aoi's standards.

Rin looked up at her father. "Do you actually feel better, Tou-sama?"

Tokiomi grimaced. "No. He's got a _vicious_ left straight."

* * *

Servant Statistics

Servant: Berserker

Identity: Unknown. The entity does not seem to have the capacity to actually convey language, and may not actually be capable of comprehending it. If this is the case, no true name can be determined, as it would never have acknowledged a name in any other existence it might have had. Currently operating on theory of identity "Gojira". Also known as "The King of the Monsters".

Alignment: True Neutral. The King of the Monsters is more beast in thought process than man, though some level of sapience has been observed. Morality is a foreign concept.

Master: ? Kariya. Original name Matou Kariya, however the clan name from the new crest is not yet decided by its master.

Strength: EX. Berserker's physical strength, in regards to a human being, is not applicable, as Berserker is 80 meters tall and more than capable of uprooting skyscrapers.

Endurance: EX. Berserker could take multiple hits from an A++ Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm before significant injury was dealt.

Agility: D. Berserker is far quicker than one might expect for his size, but still not particularly capable of dodging blows.

Magic: Unknown. "Gojira" has a massive amount of magical energy, but does not use any form of known magecraft, mystery, or sorcery.

Luck: Unknown, though the Grail suggests that if you're on the wrong side of a combat against Gojira, your Luck must be an F-.

Skills:

?Independent Action?: Servant does not seem to actually require the full prana of the master to operate, but still requires a tie to the world. While the actual prana provided is unnecessary, the bond itself might be. It is uncertain exactly what would happen should that bond be severed while Berserker had not materialized.

Mad Enhancement ?: It is unknown whether the class ability of Berserker has any bearing on its actions, due to its ambiguous original nature.

Presence Concealment B: While dematerialized can conceal self perfectly, but the length of time it takes to rematerialize is enormous and in that period gives a _negative_ rank to Presence Concealment, as evidenced by the fact that every individual in all of Japan with even a scrap of magical ability felt it when Berserker materialized. It is also possible that individuals of particular ability noticed from even further than Japan, and possibly further than our plane of existence.

Battle Continuation A

Divinity ?: Currently in speculation, as the sheer level of power presented by the entity makes most non-divine beings utterly impotent.

Information Erasure C: A strange variant on the ability that operates at the time. Information that would normally reach military forces or other significant groups is delayed by inexplicable gaps in communication. Furthermore, footage is heavily distorted, making any video recording him seem faked, though most pertinent details (such as "holy shit giant monster", for example) remain abundantly clear.

Wordless Bond: Gojira, while unable to speak, can communicate ideas through the Command Spell bond. In the mind of a human, they sometimes are formed into words as the brain attempts to comprehend the message itself.

Noble Phantasms:

Atomic Fire Breath: A+++ rank Anti-Fortress. A singularly destructive blast of plasma that is capable of destroying any nonmagical structure currently in existence, and the vast majority of the magical ones. Additionally, it seems to also destroy aspects of conceptual magic, though the exact nature of this is unclear. This is the most likely explanation for the unraveling of the Matou magic following Zouken's annihilation by this Noble Phantasm.

?: Unknown Noble Phantasm. Available readings indicate it is a passive, non-hostile ability.


	7. Chapter 7

The Fourth King

Chapter Seven

Disclaimer: I don't even own a disclaimer for chapter six, nor do I own the time some of you will spend checking that there is not in fact a disclaimer on chapter six.

A/N: I'd been neglecting the other Masters since their snippets in Chapter Two, so I decided now would be a good time to pay some of them a visit.

* * *

_'Three days have passed since the Matou Mansion was destroyed in the as-of-yet unidentified incident, codenamed "Gojira". Codename selected due to Ilyasviel's inexplicable insistence that something with that name was involved, to the point where she actually managed to irritate her caretakers enough that they contacted us.'_

Kiritsugu put his pen to the side for a moment, staring at the mission journal. He wasn't sure why he felt he needed to record this information, but... something about that surge of energy on that day made him feel... _fragile_. He shook his head. If this helped him focus past the surge of fear, then so be it. It was a far less destructive quirk than he could have had.

_'Investigation of the ruins revealed high levels of residual radiation. It is uncertain exactly what could have produced that level of radiation without destroying a far larger area. Current theory is that it was caused by a Servant. Saber has admitted to being capable of unleashing similar forces with her Noble Phantasm, though analysis of the damage reveals that no attack came from ground level. This would implicate a Rider with some form of flying mount. Archer was considered, but the damage patterns are at too high of an angle.'_

It worried him in particular that whatever this was, it was an act of a Master. For another Master to be willing to cause such visible damage was incredibly alarming.

_'Sources from across the country have all confirmed that the level of energy being used was on a level that all magic-users of any degree could feel the aura. Contacts back in Europe have confirmed that there has been a lack of response from both the Church and the Association on the subject.'_

_That _was one of the more disturbing things Kiritsugu had found out over the past few days. Something on the scale of this incident, an aura that could be felt _clear across Japan_, should have merited a large-scale response. But there was _nothing_.

_'There has not been a lack of response in the mundane community, however. I was far from the only one to have identified the radioactive nature of the destruction of the mansion, and the JSSDF has mobilized significant forces to investigate the possibility of a nuclear-capable terrorist cell. Access in and out of Fuyuki is heavily restricted. There has actually been a response from the Association and Church in this area, assisting all magi in the area in passing the inspections. This confirms that the incident was not unnoticed, but is instead being deliberately ignored. This is highly irregular.'_

To say the least. The Association didn't just _ignore_ things of this magnitude, not when it already _had_ drawn attention. At least, they didn't before now. Kiritsugu sighed, setting down his pen. He had known the Grail War wouldn't be a typical job, but this was legitimately worrying. If he was going to be alone against these sorts of odds, then even having Saber wouldn't be enough. The Magus Killer sighed, resting his face in one hand.

He was going to need more gun.

* * *

The presence of the JSSDF was incredibly annoying to Ryuunosuke. He hadn't managed to make a kill in two days, and it didn't look like the fuzz was going anywhere after that boom. He also hadn't seen Bluebeard in the past day, which was odd.

"I return, Ryuunosuke, with a grand treasure!"

"Uoooh?! Did you manage to grab someone?"

"Alas, I did not. I too was angered by the men stifling our art, but as I was about to teach them a lesson, a man approached me while I was astralized. He handed me a tome and said I would know how best to use it. Do you see its beauty, Ryuunosuke?"

In the man's hands was a book, but even Ryuunosuke knew it was no ordinary book. It looked to have been bound by something strange and almost leathery that recalled the substance that bound the other book Caster had shown him. But this one seemed to shift, the substance crawling about on its own.

"Yeah, so it looks kind of nifty, what of it? Isn't your other book like this, too?"

"Ah, but that's the beauty of it, Ryuunosuke!" Caster flipped open the book, seemingly at random, and jabbed his finger at a passage. "Read it, Ryuunosuke!"

Ryuunosuke looked down at it again, but the text looked to be gibberish in symbols he didn't understand. "Ah, Bluebeard-san, I can't read that. I don't speak the language."

Caster paused for a moment. "My apologies, Master. In my excitement, I had actually forgotten this was not the language of your land. I shall translate it for you in but a moment." He focused, and the words on the page began to twist, blurring together and apart, until they reformed into kanji.

"It's okay, I guess. So who was this guy? You get his name?"

"He called himself Al-Hazred, my Master. Now, it is ready. Read, and you will understand what a glorious gift has been given unto us!"

Ryuunosuke did read. Several moments passed, and he started laughing. Low, at first, but steadily building, mounting in volume until it echoed throughout the chamber they stood in. Caster's smile grew as he saw the understanding in his Master's eyes.

Some things should not be known to man. Among those things, there were many that in particular should not be given to a serial killer who commanded the spirit of an ancient and powerful dark mage.

Within that tome, all of those things could be found.

* * *

Waver Velvet had a headache.

Alone, this fact meant very little. He'd fallen pretty hard three days prior, when the incident had occurred. Rider had been relatively unconcerned after a quick check confirmed he hadn't been concussed, instead opting to stare out the window solemnly. And really, if it weren't for circumstances being what they were, he could just go fix himself some tea.

No, the main issue with him having a headache was that Waver Velvet was also currently in jail.

As it turns out, the papers he had didn't match up with the family he was staying with. The JSSDF's search for possible suspects in the bombing quickly pointed suspicion at the boy no one could remember having lived there but the grandparents. He lacked papers, but more importantly, Rider lacked papers and, when pressed, claimed to be Alexander the Great. The Grandparents had overlooked that quirk of his, as Waver had vouched for him, but the JSSDF men weren't so sure. They _had_ been looking for someone crazy enough to bomb the mansion, and claiming to be Alexander the Great was awfully crazy.

Initially they were going to just detain the two temporarily until they figured out the actual country of origin of the two clearly harmless, if delusional, individuals. Then Rider did something stupid. Not wanting to be held captive, he astralized while in custody when no one was watching the room. This immediately lead to panic.

"Rider, please, just keep it down," the boy moaned quietly to his astralized Servant.

_"Boy, to be contained like this is a disgrace! You know I can break us out of here in moments!"_

"I wouldn't _need_ to break out if you had just stayed materialized! They were going to let us go because it was only a passing suspicion, but then you vanished! Now they think I'm an accomplice to a super-terrorist cell or something that broke you out."

_"NO ONE CONQUERS THE KING OF CONQUERERS!"_

Waver flinched from the sound only he could hear. "At least maximum security means the other Masters aren't likely to come after me."

* * *

Post-note: Was going to include Kirei and Kayneth/Sola-Ui in this chapter, but my brain decided it didn't feel like cooperating, so they get their sections next chapter.


	8. Chapter 8

The Fourth King

Chapter Eight

Disclaimer: My laptop no longer owns functioning hinges. If I owned any of the Nasuverse or any other series introduced in this fic, that fact would not bother me because I could buy like 40 laptops.

A/N: I didn't mean for there to be such a delay between updates, really, but my laptop kind of sort of exploded on the 17th, so it wasn't until the 21st that I got it to work in a way that didn't potentially involve me accidentally ripping it in half. Also a number of personal issues are coming to the fore (in ways that, unlike my usual, are actually _stopping_ me from writing). And then there was seeing that Evangelion 3.0 did _stupid_ things, but I'm holding out hope that I just read a biased review and that it isn't actually as bad as it sounded. So if this chapter is less amusing than usual, well, there's plenty of reasons. That, and plot bunnies just didn't want to visit me for this chapter. In fact, the chapter actively fought against being written, and the quality suffered as a result. Hopefully, getting past the Kayneth section will mean I won't be actively impeded by lack of ideas because for whatever reason I just could not write that freaking scene. In other news, while I've come up with ways for most of the remainder of the cast to be over-the-top terrifying, I'm at a loss for how to power up Lancer.

* * *

Kotomine Kirei was a man who thought he had lost feeling. Becoming a widower had fractured him in ways he thought were irreparable. In truth, he was broken, empty, waiting for a strong enough emotion to guide his path forward. In another world, this would have been an advent of cruelty, turning Kotomine Kirei into a nightmare of a villain, a man who could only realize his own existence through the suffering of others. In this world, he had not been given to cruelty first.

In this world, Kotomine Kirei knew _fear_. He had thought, meeting the King of Heroes, that he had found the strongest, the one who could guide him to an answer. But then he felt the presence of a being that had a different kind of majesty. Kirei felt it in his bones during those fleeting moments when the aura blanketed the land of the rising sun: a majesty of simplicity, of primal might. The truth of the universe, he now _knew_, was not one that a magus could be on top of. Fear was truth, it was the only logical response to things that caused the sky to burn and the earth to tremble.

At least, that was how he rationalized it all later. For the time being, he was curled up in a ball in the corner of his study. An Assassin watched him curiously.

"Master. Should we investigate and eliminate the Master of the anomaly?"

Kirei's head snapped up, eyes wide in panic. "NO! If it thinks I'm a threat it'll find me!"

Assassin stared vacantly at his master. Or it could have been a glare, or bedroom eyes, or a megawatt grin, for all anyone can tell from the mask. Then again, Assassin giving someone bedroom eyes would have been cause enough for Kirei's breakdown, so the terrified man chased that thought away quickly. The pause continued for several seconds, Kirei's body slackening.

"Very well, Master. Is there anything you would like me to do, then?"

Kirei ran a hand through his sweaty hair, fighting to regain some temporary measure of calm. "Just... continue reconnaissance on those suspected of being Masters. Alert me immediately if a Servant battle begins. Do not enter conflict. God above, I'm just repeating your earlier orders, aren't I?" He chuckled, the sound unsettling in the small room. "I need more time to figure things out. Absolutely do not inform anyone of my... condition."

Condition. As if fear were a sickness that could be cured, that _needed _ to be cured. As if being afraid of something capable of wiping out everything you'd ever done or ever dreamed of doing was somehow wrong. Ludicrous.

Assassin nodded, vanishing in an instant. Kirei slumped back down, shuddering as the distraction faded and his memory of the aura surged once more. He let out a quiet whimper as he curled back up into the corner, trembling weakly.

"Make it stop... please make it stop..."

* * *

Lancer sighed. In a way, that aura had been beneficial. Before the incident, there was considerable tension between Kayneth and Sola-Ui. The Servant was not blind to the obvious infatuation his Master's fiancee had for him, and was worried it might disturb the couple's relationship. Not that he thought the woman would do anything too drastic, but distractions could scarcely be afforded in a Grail War. With this, at least, they were too preoccupied with feelings of uneasiness to clash.

So preoccupied, in fact, that Kayneth hadn't even taken the time to rant about how much the JSSDF was going to get in the way of the Grail War. With the massively heightened alert status, even moving about was difficult. Kayneth and Sola-Ui had all the proper documentation, of course, so the JSSDF weren't suspicious of them after a brief talk. Lancer allowed himself a small smile at that one tiny slip of good fortune.

* * *

The lack of suspicion was, of course, entirely false; the JSSDF had found Waver's passport and made a connection between the two trips in roughly the same time period from the same location. With Waver detained after Rider's little vanishing act, they now turned their eyes to the wealthy individuals with a likely connection to the detainee.

The good fortune was, in fact, that none of the Masters were on the move. If Kayneth or Sola-Ui actually went out to _do_ anything, the poor JSSDF agents assigned as tails would likely be murdered by Lancer.

* * *

Post-note: I apologize for how incredibly awful this chapter was, but I want it out of the way so I can get to the parts I actually enjoy writing.


	9. Chapter 9

The Fourth King

Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I was just handed a slip of paper informing me I don't even own this particular disclaimer, much less Fate/Zero or any other works appearing in this fanfic. It wasn't signed, but I think the one that handed it to me might have been the Slender Man. Couldn't be sure, though. In other news, I found something to power up Lancer with, so everything has a power-up now. This chapter was (thankfully) much more fun to write than last chapter, as is probably evidenced by its length.

* * *

_The golden glow of dawn peeked over the horizon. He gazed out at it, squinting at the sunlight. There had been no prey in several days, and he was hungry. His tail flicked irritably, snapping a tree in twain. These woods were his territory and always had been, yet when he had awoken a week ago it was suddenly devoid of all other life larger than his pupils. He could clearly remember his last kill, an upstart believing itself to be an apex predator. It was a decent snack, he supposed, though lacking in bulk.  
_

_A sound like thunder tore across the sky, and he glanced up. There were no clouds to be seen, but he had barely enough time to realize that when the world erupted in fire and pain.  
_

* * *

_He felt rage. The cloudless storm's flames had done something to him. No trees were still standing, so he could not compare himself to them, but he knew he was larger. His body, swollen and aching, was awkward to move, distances he had been so used to were now meaningless to him, and some strange spines had risen from his back.  
_

_The anger rumbled in his chest as he growled. His domain had been ruined beyond recognition by the Storm, and he would now need to leave to find a new hunting ground, all while his body grew and throbbed.  
_

_A sound like thunder again, and he turned his eyes skyward to find the source. Had the cloudless storm returned? But no, he saw something. A strange, shining gray beast flew through the air, faster than any pterosaur he had ever seen. It did not flap its wings to move, and it was making that sound as it traveled.  
_

_Rage, confusion, realization. Was it not a storm at all that had ravaged his lands? Was this flying creature responsible for his pain, for the defiling of his territory? It _dared_? It would pay. He wanted it dead, wanted to crush it in his jaws and hear its screams. But the creature took no notice of him, continuing on its path. He stared at it, eyes full of hate and pride. He roared, that it might take notice of him. He roared, that it would know what it had offended. He roared, that it would come down and face him, challenge him and lose like all the rest. He roared, that it might know the pain of the Storm it had unleashed upon him._

_He roared, and the Storm roared with him. From his maw came a lance of the blinding fire, furious and unyielding, and it raced towards the gray creature. If the flying beast had time to cry out in anguish, he could not hear it over the roar of the inferno he had unleashed consuming it, and its remains fell from the sky, burnt and unrecognizable.  
_

_He paused, the rage subsiding momentarily. He felt confusion as he stared at the place in the sky the creature had been only moments ago, tilting his head to the side curiously. That... did not normally happen when he roared. It was like the cloudless storm had been, a flame without warning or mercy, yet it now seemed to be his to command. A moment's pause further, and he began his trek towards where the flying thing's remains had fallen. If the Storm decided it wished to serve him rather than the (now fallen) beast, he would expect it to obey. It would not do for him to destroy his meals like this whenever he wished to roar defiance.  
_

* * *

_The world outside his domain was strange. Even as he continued to grow larger and larger, the strange trees were still as tall as him. Strange, fleshy creatures skittered about on the odd stone ground of the strange stone forests, and they screeched in their strange, warbling voices as they ran about aimlessly in his presence. Yet the trees of stone were odder still than he had first thought, as their stone was like none he had ever seen, impossibly smooth, with strange colors and patterns. On some strange trees were flat, still forms of the fleshy ones he had seen below him. He did not understand, and disregarded the "images" after a moment.  
_

_He had managed to eat well on his trip from his now forsaken lands, as there were large beasts that lived in the seas, and they were quite meaty. He was unsure what to make of the strange rocks that had floated atop the water, though. They had been covered by the same fleshy creatures that were so abundant on the land, but had moved. One had done something strange, trying to use the Storm if the noise it made was any indication, but instead of the grand fires he expected, there were annoyingly painful splinters that seemed to come from the long, narrow protrusions in the floating rock. He disliked the splinters, so he broke the rock by slamming his tail upon it. The fleshy things had gotten onto smaller, colorful things that allowed them to float as well, but they were of no importance once the rock had been dealt with.  
_

_What sort of strange lands were these, that rocks would float and be ridden by scaleless animals? That rocks would be able to give him splinters, and roar defiance at him? It was maddening and pointless, and he had yet to find any land-dwelling beasts of import. Everything he had seen was either another odd rock (he knew he should figure out a way to determine what they were, as there were entirely too many things he had to call "rocks" at this point, and rocks simply did not do the things he had seen them do), one of the fleshy, warbling creatures that didn't come up past his toes, or smaller even than those. Would he be forced to live out in the water, where there were actually things of value to eat? He did not wish to do so, for the land was his domain, but he had noticed an odd comfort in the seas.  
_

_He heard a noise like thunder, and turned in time to see strange flying things at his own eye level flashing rapidly. He felt the splinters glance off his hide, and snorted. So these were related to the floating thing at sea, but were weaker? He would allow them to live, as these splinters had not caused him pain.  
_

_The thought came too soon, as something collided with the side of his head, erupting in a small gout of fire. He growled and glanced up. Sure enough, there were more of the first flying creature he had met flittering across the sky, pelting him with more of the fiery splinters, but nothing like the Storm. He growled, on the off chance they would realize their folly and retreat upon seeing his anger, but they did not relent.  
_

_So he grabbed one of the flickering ones in front of him and crushed it in one hand, feeling the material crack and warp under the pressure. The flying things moved back, but did not relent in their assault, so he grabbed part of one of the stone tree spires that surrounded him and tossed it into another, satisfied as it went down. Still the things did not relent.  
_

_Something caught his eye. Inside of one of the flying things was one of the fleshy creatures, with a pelt different than the others had been except for its face. Were the fleshy things somehow commanding the objects, the splinter-makers? He growled in annoyance. He could understand their ire now, if not excuse it: they were defending their nest. Swatting a low-flying one out of the air with his tail, he abruptly turned around. He did not care about their ideas of territory, but this was becoming a nuisance. If he needed to go elsewhere to find land that would not be dominated by the scaleless things, then he would. He noticed that while the barrage continued for a time, it let up as he approached the bay to leave. So he was right, and they had just been driving him out of their nest. He would try to avoid them in the future, as irritating as it was to appear inferior. Surely, even as many of the things as there were, there would be places he could go that would be free of them, wouldn't there?  
_

* * *

_He grumbled angrily. He had tried countless lands, all of them covered in the fleshy creatures. The sounds they made were incredibly varied, so he learned to think of them as the speakers. There were spots he had found that were free of them, but they were intensely undesirable. Had the speakers really become the ruling predators on the land? He admitted, the strange things they rode that he finally concluded were some sort of shells gave them an advantage. He had seen trees once more on one of his ventures, and realized he had grown even more than he had thought, towering over all of them easily.  
_

_He had come ashore again after having stayed at sea for many months because his instincts told him there was something to be found here. It was another of the large nests the speakers had, and he waited outside of it. The flying shells appeared to meet him, but seemed confused by his stillness. He tilted his head curiously at them. His instincts insisted the thing of interest would be in this nest soon, but he did not feel like angering the splinter-makers just yet, so he waited. The splinter-makers did not use their splinters upon him, even as they amassed around him. He growled at one that came too near by his head, and it backed away. He had come to understand that the speakers could be taught, it just required patience he had not previously had.  
_

_It was not until late in that day that his instincts paid off. A tremor erupted in the middle of the speakers' nest, and a tremendous serpentine form covered in slime surged from the ground, rearing up until its mouth was at his eye level. The splinter-makers immediately broke off and began assaulting the worm-beast, but they surely must have known it was a useless ordeal. Strange, though, that a beast of that size could have existed and he not know about it after all this time.  
_

_The worm thing fell to the side, crushing more of the spires. He growled at it. Surely, it wasn't _ignoring_ him. He had waited patiently for it to appear, that he might challenge it, and now it was paying him no heed. This would not do. This would not do at all. He roared challenge at it, and it froze for a moment, coiling up. It spat something viscous and slimy at him, and the glob slammed into his arm and burned. It had _hurt_ him?! No, this would not do at _all_!_

_He called upon the fires of the Storm within him and let loose a beam of annihilation that seared clear through the spire the worm hid itself behind, burning it. It let out a screech of pain and dove down beneath the earth once more. He swatted at the goo on him, brushing it away irritably and ignoring the burning feeling on his hand, which faded quickly. That was another of the strange benefits of the Storm; he recovered in moments or hours from wounds that normally would have taken him weeks or months to shake off.  
_

_He felt the earth tremble beneath him, and the worm-beast erupted from the ground to wrap about him. The slime covering it burned his scales, and he roared his displeasure, struggling against it. The worm must have relied entirely on its slime and size, for it could not continue to hold him for even a few moments when he resisted. Grabbing what he assumed to be its head, he pointed it at his face and opened his maw once more, screaming fire rushing forward and incinerating the hideous thing. The rest of its body fell limp at his feet, and he roared.  
_

_The conflict had lasted only a scarce few moments, but he did not regret the time he spent waiting. He had begun to grow bored with having nothing that could rival him in scale or power, an emotion that did not make sense to him, and this had satisfied those urges somewhat. He turned to leave, stepping over the corrosive corpse at his feet. He would have preferred that the thing wasn't impossible to consume, given its acid, but seeing he was not the only thing of his size that existed was enough for now.  
_

* * *

Kariya shrugged, looking across the table at Aoi with bleary eyes as he clutched his coffee mug. "That's about when I woke up. Maybe the reason Berserker was so eager to follow my orders was he noticed the worms, or something. Still doesn't explain when the hell it happened. The world would have noticed it if he waited outside a major city for like 8 hours before fighting a giant slime worm."

Tokiomi nodded to himself upon hearing this, also seated at the table. This explained everything. Clearly, they were dealing with a dragon practicing the Second Magic. The conclusion was so obvious he felt no need to say it aloud for the others to hear. It would also explain why it had taken so long for the Dream Cycle to appear in him, because clearly the dragon had simply altered time to make the dreams happen only now. He was glad he could be so logical about these things.


	10. Chapter 10

The Fourth King

Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own the theories the reviewers are coming up with, and I'm not entirely sure I own the things that are accurate, either.

A/N: So I'm really quite entertained at times by the conclusions people are coming to. Just to clear a few things up, I'll clarify a handful of points. Visually, the Godzilla in this story most closely visually resembles the one from "Godzilla vs Biollante" and "Godzilla vs King Ghidorah". This Godzilla is completely and utterly unrelated to the American Godzilla, known to some as "Zilla", and that universe will be making absolutely no appearances in the fic. The enemy faced in the flashback has never been seen in any work of Godzilla's universe, nor (to my knowledge) any film whatsoever, but is not an entity of my own design. And lastly, there is currently no source of information that can be fully trusted to have fully accurate knowledge of what the hell is going on in this fic. Possibly including me.

Also, I'm 21 now. Whee.

* * *

"The hell do you mean, we have to let him go?"

"Just go with it. I didn't see the signatures on the order, but I saw the guy that did see them, and he went fucking _white_. This goes to places we don't want to think about."

Waver Velvet stared blankly at the two men as they opened his cell.

"You. You're free to go."

"Just like that?"

"I wasn't given details. Just _get_. Oh, and there's some sort of card left for you."

And thus, not 15 minutes later, Waver Velvet was tossed out of maximum security on his ass, into the street, completely unaccompanied by JSSDF officers. The teen sat there for a minute, dazed.

"...Rider, what just happened?"

Rider materialized at his side, as there was no one in sight, and swiped the card Waver had been given, staring at it solemnly, before grinning.

"Looks like things are about to get started."

* * *

Kiritsugu stared at the postcard in his hand in disbelief. It was addressed to him, telling him he should be at the harbor tomorrow at sundown, and to bring Saber. There were a number of problems with this situation.

First off, someone had found him to get a postcard to him. This should not have been possible except for the Einzberns, and this was clearly not their work. He had covered his tracks well enough that the JSSDF hadn't found anything irregular with his activities at all. It was old hat to him, at this point, so someone finding him was problematic.

Second, they had given him a meeting location. This was all kinds of a bad idea. He wasn't stupid; he wasn't going to go waltz into an obvious trap like that, and anyone who could manage to get him a postcard would know at least that much about him. Irisviel was safe, he saw to that mere moments after receiving the card. Ilya was safe as well, he had Iri phone the Einzberns about it mere moments after _that_. So they didn't have anything to hold hostage that would force him to do the stupid thing and walk into the trap.

Third, they knew he was the Master of Saber. There hadn't been any appearances of _any_ of the Servants in combat yet, and he had carefully constructed Iri's schedule to make it appear _she_ was the Master of Saber. Yet the one who sent this completely ignored that, identifying him immediately. This shouldn't have been possible.

Whoever was behind this was good. Alarmingly good. Kiritsugu frowned, pocketing the card. Good enough that it was tactically unsound to let them continue to be an unknown. Meaning he would be showing up at the harbor, even if covertly. Which was probably their angle. Damn.

* * *

Tokiomi smiled, holding Sakura's and Rin's hands. In his and Kariya's discussion, his neglect of fatherly love was addressed rather significantly. The ex-Matou, who had not yet decided upon the new title, had declared that he was going to continue to raise hell so long as Tokiomi failed to be a proper father. While originally he had planned on minimizing contact with his family for the duration of the war, it was now evident that Kariya was planning on playing guard dog for them, and the JSSDF presence had made it effectively impossible to actually do anything related to the war, so going out for a day was not actually a safety concern. No one would dare actually move in the broad daylight in the middle of a crowded area watched over by the JSSDF.

Thus, he found himself taking Sakura and Rin out for a day of relaxation. While Aoi still didn't think her childhood friend had recovered sufficiently, both men knew that it was more than enough to bring about problems for anyone foolish enough to attack the mansion. His nose twinged painfully at the thought of the man. Tokiomi knew that if Kariya hadn't actively intended for the attack to be nonlethal, or if he himself had not been a magus, that blow would have likely impaled his brain. It didn't seem likely that the other Master knew this, Tokiomi thought, or he would have been dramatically more concerned with the rapid increase in his own ability.

The crowd was rather varied that day, for some reason. Tokiomi saw a woman in a very elaborate kimono arguing with a man dressed as a jester, and on another side there were a group of mimes surrounding a man whose eyes were shadowed by his boater hat. It was odd, as he hadn't thought a festival was taking place, especially given the military lockdown of the city, but perhaps people were simply celebrating where they could.

"Tou-san?"

Tokiomi glanced down at Rin, who was holding some sort of postcard and frowning.

"What is it, Rin?"

"Tou-san, I think that man meant to give this to you," Rin said, extending the postcard towards her father. Tokiomi's eyes immediately hardened.

"What man?" He hadn't seen anyone come up to them at all.

"The one in the straw hat, the boater!"

Tokiomi froze as he glanced up and saw the man who had been surrounded by mimes now walking backwards down an alleyway, eyes still covered but a cheshire grin just barely visible from the angle. Tokiomi blinked, and the man was gone.

"Rin, Sakura. Don't let go of my hands for any reason, and let me know if you see that man again. Something seems to have come up. We're going back."

* * *

"Master. I've managed to determine that there will be some sort of encounter at the harbor in the near future, perhaps tomorrow."

Kirei did not turn to face the Assassin that had materialized in his study. "Elaborate."

"There has been some manner of investigation by unknown parties in the harbor area, and for unknown reasons the JSSDF presence in the area is nonexistent. Additionally, Lord El-Melloi has left his previous residence, likely in preparation for something."

Kirei nodded. Perhaps it was related to the lack of contact Tokiomi had made. He knew the man was still alive, but there had been only a single call the previous day to declare that, and it hadn't given him any other information.

"Very well, Assassin. Investigate the harbor at that point, then."

"At what point, Master?" an Assassin said, materializing.

Kirei frowned, turning. "The one you had just mentioned not half a minute before."

The Assassin tilted its head. "Master, you were alone in this room until you called for me."

Kirei stilled, glancing down. A postcard lay at his feet, with a smiley face drawn on it and a note. The Assassin glanced down at it as well. Kirei picked it up and glanced at the note, grimacing.

"Well, shit."


End file.
